Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Me, Niqabi

Written Tues., January 11, 2010

Justin brought up yesterday that I'd been nearly full-time niqaabi (wearing a face veil) for a while now - increasingly frequently since late September, I suppose - and asked how it was going for me. I was surprised to realize how often I wear it now. I'm returning to a mental place where I don't usually notice, or pay attention to, the looks and stares. Well, except for one instance last month where I stared down a ten year old boy in Wal-Mart who, in a display of poor manners, insisted on following me around and staring rather aggessively, even after I greeted him AND despite the presence of both his parents, who acted as if I wasn't there at all! I think I ended up scaring him, but sometimes enough is enough. It's kind of funny in retrospect.

In fact, today I ran into a classmate uptown whom I'd only met last week, and not only was I in niqab (which she's seen) but I also had the eyeveil down over my face because of the snow (keeps snow from smudging my glasses, though I can see out fine, though an observer can't see my eyes; it's like wearing sunglasses). She not only recognized me, but struck up a nice conversation right there on the sidewalk, and ended up promising to have me over for dinner.

Once again, I suggest that niqab is not a barrier to communication unless either party makes it one. In other words, I guess that the niqab is going well - and I'm finally adapting to being in a 'safe' environment, where I don't get the aggressive responses I dealt with in Indy.

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"The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance, but live right in it, under its roof." — Barbara Kingsolver